The present invention seeks to satisfy a need for a safe, efficient and economical steering mechanism stabilizer in vehicles.
Steering stabilizers are known in the prior art and usually are spring devices which include threaded spring tension adjusters or equivalent means. The prior art steering stabilizers have tended to be awkward and unduly complicated, rendering them impractical to install on present-day automotive vehicles, as well as they do not have a positive center point or hydraulic retarder as to slow down rapid movement of the rod.
Nevertheless, it is desirable to stabilize the steering linkage while biasing it toward a positive center or straight-ahead condition, and the present invention accomplishes these aims in a very compact, convenient and practical unit which is connected between a vehicle frame member and a moving element of the steering linkage such as the tie rod. The device dampens shocks generated by external forces on the steerable wheels which otherwise tend to be transmitted back through the linkage to the steering wheel. Since the device is positive self-centering under the action of two opposing equal strength biasing springs, it tends to return the vehicle wheels to a positive center or straight-ahead position. The core of the stabilizer is embodied in a fluid tight cylinder or dampener, and this core is surrounded by a shell of a coil spring snubber containing the two-named biasing coils.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.